Erika L. Pearce, PhD

Research

As part of their normal development during an immune response, T cells undergo extensive metabolic changes to support their energetic and biosynthetic needs. Research in my laboratory focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control T cell fate and function during infection and cancer, with a particular emphasis on how metabolism governs these processes. Currently we have projects investigating T cell metabolism in the tumor microenvironment, the role of mitochondrial dynamics in shaping T cell function, and how T cells utilize substrates during infection. Ultimately we hope our research will reveal ways to manipulate the metabolism of immune cells for enhancing the efficacy of immunotherapeutic and prophylactic vaccines.